


Surprises

by shichan_DFKink (shinchansgirl)



Category: Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Complete, Kink Meme, M/M, Marking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-26
Updated: 2011-05-26
Packaged: 2017-10-19 19:47:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/204558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinchansgirl/pseuds/shichan_DFKink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: DuMorne hires Kincaid to do something for him - Harry, given his curious streak and his tendency to Name things, gets to be kind of friends with the Hellhound (if Harry gives him a silly/adorable nickname that Kincaid pretends not to like, I will give you virtual mint chocolate chip cookies). Then DuMorne contracts Kincaid to do something to Harry. Hurt him somehow, maybe as a lesson. Kincaid finds he'd rather make sure Harry is absolutely nowhere near DuMorne for the foreseeable future instead.</p><p>Note: DuMorne doesn't actually hire Kincaid to do something to Harry, but he does offer up Harry's *ahem* services for a night in exchange for a job.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprises

He didn’t really want to take the job, but when the Lord of the Hunt suggests that you might find something interesting by checking out the situation, you should probably do as he says. That was why Kincaid found himself watching the DuMorne house, carefully watching the wizard who was hoping to hire him. Jared had given himself an extra three days to scope the place out, since the Erlking had simply said that there was something interesting about _the situation_ , and not the job itself. That time was coming to a close.

So far as he could tell, there was the wizard who wanted to hire him – DuMorne – and two young kids, one male and one female. DuMorne was working with a lot of things that he shouldn’t be if he wanted to live long, and messing with the kids on the side.

He seemed to be… experimenting.

First, he would use one technique or another on the girl in an attempt to put her in thrall. Kincaid couldn’t see why he bothered, since the girl was practically in a constant state of thrall at this point, was sleeping with him, and was desperate enough to please him that it was hard to tell the difference between thrall-state and not. He probably had something he was blackmailing her with, or there was something she thought he was protecting her from. It happened.

If the thrall worked on the girl – and it usually did – he would try it on the boy. He would only use subtle magics that the younger humans wouldn’t notice, but that didn’t seem to matter. The thralls never worked on the male because he had shields like a motherfucker.

Jared knew, because he’d tried to use the simple fae notice-me-not that worked on most mortals, and the kid had stared at him right through it. Jared had tried even to hint that the kid should look away, and the boy had just continued to stare.

Then DuMorne had hit him alongside the head and made the boy get on his hands and knees and scrub the floors with a rag.

DuMorne was teaching them magic, and trying to lead them into the dark stuff. The stuff the flimsy wizard council killed people for. The girl was taking to it like a fish to water; she loved the power she felt, he could tell. People like that got a certain look on their face when they tasted that magic, like they’d just had their first sip of ambrosia and wanted more.

The boy… he was different. He was reluctant. But he was also a powerhouse. DuMorne would show him something simple, and he’d magnify it. The kid had nearly set himself on fire trying to light a candle, and getting a free-standing bonfire instead.

Jared adjusted his suit, then went and knocked on the door.

The boy was the one who answered. “Finally decide to come and talk?” he asked. “It’s creepy the way you stare.”

“I could say the same about you, pup,” Jared answered. “Vanilla mortals wouldn’t have seen me, and most wizards wouldn’t either. That’s some eye you’ve got.”

He tilted his head to the side a bit. “ ‘Vanilla’ huh? That’s a good name for them. Justin calls them mundane, or just mortal, but those don’t fit. They aren’t always mundane, and we’re mortal too.”

“Best remember that, then,” Kincaid said. “Some of those vanilla mortals are dangerous too.”

He nodded. “Why are you here?”

“To see Justin DeMorne.”

The boy nodded. “I’m not supposed to invite you in, so I’ll go get him.” He closed the door and Kincaid heard him scamper away. Interesting kid.

A few minutes later, the door opened again. “I apologize for not greeting you myself,” Justin said. “I wasn’t expecting such a… mundane entrance from the HellHound.”

“So you do know who I am.” It was a plus for DuMorne, since Kincaid didn’t make a point of being in the spotlight much, and Jared had never shown himself to the man.

“As you are the only visitor I am expecting who is not human, then yes.”

Kincaid revised his opinion to a negative. He could have been anyone from the NeverNever then, and this man wouldn’t have known the difference. They wouldn’t have even had to lie. “Your message said that you had a job you’d like to contract me for?”

“Indeed,” Justin said. “But it’s… rather complicated.”

“Well then it’s best we don’t discuss it on your front porch,” Jared said, pushing his way inside. If he was smart enough to tell the kid not to, then he wasn’t going to invite Kincaid in.

Surprisingly, Jared didn’t feel the pull of a threshold holding him back, and he paused for a moment in slight shock. Around the corner of the hall, there was the male kid peeking out. With a smile and a wink, the kid disappeared.

So someone had invited him in after all. Dangerous. Cheeky. Smart, if he wanted to get rid of DuMorne.

Kincaid let his nose lead him to the kitchen, sat down in a chair and propped his feet in another. “Tell me about this complicated job, and I’ll tell you if I’m available and what it costs.”

* * *

In the end, DuMorne’s job wasn’t that complicated at all. Oh, it was specific enough, and difficult to find, but not really complicated. He wanted a kidnapping. Not just any kidnapping, he wanted the kidnapping of another child wizard who was strong enough to be a challenge to the thrall.

He wanted the male pup in a thrall, but needed someone new to experiment on since the girl was obviously too weak in the mind. Kincaid had been tempted to tell him that it wasn’t that hard to thrall someone into doing what they already wanted to do, but bit back on the sarcastic comment. It was amusing and all, but not productive.

“I don’t think I’m the man you need for this job,” Jared said instead. “Honestly, I could do it, but it’s a waste of my time. You’re trying to hire an assassin to kidnap a child. That’s like trying to hire a master thief to break into your school locker, DuMorne.”

“I understand that this job might be a bit below your typical skill-set-“ Kincaid stopped him, holding up a hand. He’d heard something, and a few moments later the male kid’s head popped around the corner and paled.

“So we meet again, pup,” Kincaid smirked.

“Uh. Hi,” the kid stammered. “Sorry. Didn’t know you were still here. I’ll go.”

“Harry.” Justin’s voice stopped the boy in his tracks, and he faced DuMorne sullenly, but submissively. “Why did you come near this room?”

“I didn’t realize you were both still discussing things. It’s time for me to fix dinner.”

Kincaid filed the name and reaction away for later use even as DuMorne continued to scold the child – honestly, he couldn’t have been older than 14, and he was fixing dinner? “When I give an order, I expect it to be obeyed.”

“I said I was sorry. Your orders contradict themselves anyways.”

“What was that?”

“Your orders. You ordered me to make dinner at this time every other night, and tonight’s my turn to cook. Then you ordered me and Elaine to stay out of the kitchen while your guest was here. I can’t do both.”

Kincaid chuckled a bit, pleased at the pup’s cheek; barely fourteen at a guess, and he was already twisting mortals words back on them. Had he been fae, it would have been a childish attempt, but for a mortal it wasn’t bad. “He has you there, DuMorne. Let the pup fix the food. I’ve already told you what you needed to hear.”

“There’s no way you’ll reconsider then?”

Harry hovered in the doorway, uncertain, and Jared watched him. “Not at the moment, no. It’s a curious and interesting situation, but I doubt you need my help, and I see no benefit to wasting my time. I have very little need for what you could provide me with, after all. Unless… you have something else to offer?” There were rumors, of course, that someone in the mortal realm had the spirit of air and intellect that knew spells to shake the very foundations of the earth; there were even rumors that such a skull resided in Chicago.

But they were only rumors.

“Harry, go and wait by the front door. When the HellHound leaves, then you may fix dinner.”

That got a frown out of the kid, but he did as he was told. Once he had left, DuMorne spoke up: “Bring me a child of magic to use as a stepping stone to Harry’s mind, something that will grant me access to bend him to my desires, and I’ll let you bed him for a night.”

It took a great deal of willpower for Kincaid not to fall out of his chair laughing. “I’m not interested in bedding children,” he said. “But children do grow up.”

DuMorne was watching me, trying to trick me into a soulgaze from the way he was moving, but I’d caught on to those moves a few decades before he’d been born, when wizards were just learning not to be afraid of that Look. “When he’s older, then.”

“When he’s older, if you’re still interested, I might take the job. For now, I’ll take my leave.” Jared stood. “Might I suggest, however, that you take more care with the pups? They might prove to be more valuable that way.”

DuMorne followed Kincaid to the doorway, where Harry was waiting. Jared stopped and ruffled his hair a bit. “You’re brave, pup,” he said.

“I thought a HellHound was a big three-headed dog,” the kid blurted.

Jared allowed himself a small laugh like he hadn’t with DuMorne. “That’s Cerebus,” he said. “Not quite what we mean by HellHound, but one of the mothers.”

“So you’re, what, part dog?”

Kincaid gave him a toothy grin. “Maybe.”

“That’s gross.”

“Harry.” Justin’s voice had a note of warning with it, and the kid flinched.

“The kid’s cheeky,” Kincaid said. “I like that. Quite a few others would like that too.” Jared paused for a moment, thinking. The Erlking had said that he might find something interesting while he was here, and he had. He also didn’t like the idea of DuMorne or anyone else breaking the kid before he found out just why the kid had registered on such a high radar, and why he was such a powerhouse. DuMorne had freely offered the kid’s body to him once already – there was no way of knowing that he wouldn’t do so again, or hadn’t done so already.

Well, there _was_ a way to keep it from happening. “Hold still, pup,” he said, and carefully tilted Harry’s head to the side and pulled his collar down a bit.

Once, this had been done by biting the neck. It had been called a claiming bite, and that was all it was. But the magic had changed over the years, refined itself to fit the needs of the Hounds, and Kincaid licked a stripe around the juncture of neck and throat then backed off to see if it had taken.

Within moments, his saliva had darkened, formed his Mark, and set into the skin. A pouncing wolf was about to leap over Harry’s shoulder.

DuMorne was growling, and had grabbed Kincaid’s arm, but didn’t have the strength to move him. “What have you done?”

“Claiming him,” Kincaid said simply. “You did, after all, offer. And how am I to know that you won’t damage him while we wait?”

“I don’t have the time you do, Hound.”

Kincaid let out an uninterested hum, then said: “Try looking in Miami. You’ll find something there. That should be enough of a trade for the inconvenience of waiting.” He shook off DuMorne’s grip with barely a shrug, and walked out.

After a moment, he heard Harry’s quiet: “Um, I’ll just go… fix dinner.”

A surprising find indeed.


End file.
